Interview by Paul Salfen
This spring, Mike can be seen reprising his fan-favorite role as Chief Strategist Tommy Tomás in season two of NBC’s hit comedy series, “Mr. Mayor,” opposite Ted Danson and Holly Hunter. Created by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, “Mr. Mayor” follows a retired businessman (Danson) who runs for mayor of Los Angeles to prove he’s “still got it.” Season two of “Mr. Mayor” premieres on NBC on March 15, 2022. Additional acting credits for Mike include Netflix’s “Orange Is the New Black,” the HBO dramedies “High Maintenance,” and “Crashing,” as well as guest appearances in NBC’s “New Amsterdam” and Netflix’s “Luke Cage.”
Mike is also an active performer, director, producer, and writer for the award-winning Story Pirates, a nationally renowned group of top comedians, musicians, best-selling authors, and incredible teachers who create exciting content that celebrates the imaginations of children. Their marquee program, the “Story Pirates Podcast” has been downloaded over 35 million times and consistently ranks in the top three for kids and family audio programming in the world, having won multiple iHeartRadio Podcast Awards, a 2020 Webby Award, and featured special guests such as Billy Eichner, Bowen Yang, Dax Shepard, John Oliver, and Lin-Manuel Miranda, to name a few.
On the comedy front, Mike and his sketch team GEIL have appeared on FunnyOrDie and Adult Swim, having created countless sketches and two acclaimed web series: “Early to Rise” (2020) and “Night Crew” (2018). “Early to Rise” was a 2021 Slamdance selection and won the Audience Award at the 2020 SeriesFest. “Night Crew” premiered on Comedy Central’s digital channels after becoming an official selection for the New York Television Festival, where they landed a development deal with Comedy Central. Mike has performed on stages all over the country, including the Del Close Marathon, Comedy Hack Day, Austin Sketch Fest, UCB’s 3×3 Tournament, and NYC Improv Festival.
A proud first-generation Filipino American, Mike discovered his love of comedy at a young age and he learned how to produce, direct, shoot and edit for film and tv when he was just a teenager while attending a magnet high school in Las Vegas, NV. After attending Loyola University Chicago for undergrad, Mike moved to New York, NY, where he turned his focus to his acting and writing work, studying improv and sketch comedy with the prestigious Upright Citizens Brigade and creating various sketches, digital series, and even booking a few commercials and smaller roles in television shows. Mike moved to Los Angeles in 2019 to pursue his career in Hollywood full force and booked “Mr. Mayor” that same year.
